''Public Works'' ( nl, Publieke werken), also distributed under the title ''A Noble Intention'' is a 2015 Dutch

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Joram Lürsen Joram Lürsen (born 11 August 1963) is a Dutch film and television director, as well as screenwriter and producer. Lürsen was born in Amstelveen. He graduated from the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam in 1990 with his fil ...

. It was based on the book of the same name by

Thomas Rosenboom Thomas Rosenboom (born 8 January 1956, in Doetinchem), is a Dutch author of novels and short stories. His novels ''Gewassen vlees'' and ''Publieke werken'' won him the Libris Prize in 1995 and 2000; he is the only author to have won it twice. Ca ...

about the troubled construction of the Victoria Hotel in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. It was listed as one of eleven films that could be selected as the Dutch submission for the

Best Foreign Language Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the 89th Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. The film won the Pearl Award at the

Film by the Sea Film by the Sea is an annual film festival that takes place in Vlissingen, Netherlands, in September. Festival Film by the Sea was founded in 1999. The festival features both pre-premieres of major commercial films, and art house films that do ...

festival in the Netherlands in 2016.

Plot

The narrative is based on two historic facts: one, the Victoria hotel in Amsterdam, opposite the

Central Station Central stations or central railway stations emerged in the second half of the nineteenth century as railway stations that had initially been built on the edge of city centres were enveloped by urban expansion and became an integral part of the ...

, has two nineteenth-century houses incrusted in its facade. Two, the pharmacist Anijs in

Hoogeveen Hoogeveen (; nds-nl, 't Ogeveine or '' 't Oveine'') is a municipality and a town in the Dutch province of Drenthe. Population centres Elim, Fluitenberg, Hoogeveen and Noordscheschut, which still have the canals which used to be throughout ...

was known for his commitment to improve the lives of a group of families of dirt-poor peat-cutters. The main character, Walter Vedder, a violin maker, was in the 1880s the owner of one of the houses opposite the Central Station. Aware of his strong position to negotiate, he demands a fortune for his property. Together with his cousins Christian Anijs in Hoogeveen and Al Vedder in the United States, he develops the idea to use this fortune to offer the poor peat-cutters the opportunity to emigrate to the United States. Public works such as in this case the construction of a railway station, can have unforeseen an unwanted effects on the lives of people but the cousins have the noble intention to achieve social justice on their own. Tragedy is inevitable since the developers are not willing to pay Vedder's price. The poor families from the peatlands embark on an ill-advised journey but are saved by a surprising element of culture that the cousins did not value.

Cast

Gijs Scholten van Aschat Gijs Scholten van Aschat (born 16 September 1959) is a Dutch actor. He has appeared in more than sixty films since 1980. He is the father of Reinout Scholten van Aschat Reinout Scholten van Aschat (born 9 November 1989) is a Dutch actor. ...

as Walter Vedder *

Jacob Derwig Jacob Derwig (The Hague, 15 July 1969) is a Dutch actor. Film and television He recently played roles in box-office hit Family Way (2012) (for which he won a Golden Calf), The Dinner (2013), Public Works (2015), and in the highly popular Dutc ...

as Anijs *

Rifka Lodeizen Rifka Lodeizen (born 16 October 1972) is a Dutch actress. Career Lodeizen made her debut with a small role in the 1991 film ''The Province''. She was discovered by film director Eddy Terstall and she played a role in his 1996 film '' Hufters ...

as Martha *

Zeb Troostwijk Zeb may refer to: *Zeb (name), a list of people with the given name, nickname or surname *Drummie Zeb, born Angus Gaye in 1959, drummer, producer and lead singer of UK band Aswad * Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, a main character in ''Star Wars Rebels'' *Z ...

as Klein Pet *

Juda Goslinga Juda may refer to: People * Adele Juda (1888–1949), Austrian psychologist and neurologist * Annely Juda (1914–2006), German art dealer * Elsbeth Juda (1911–2014), British photographer * Paul Juda (born 2001), American artistic gymnast Othe ...

as Bennemin *

Elisabeth Hesemans Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

as Mother Bennemin * Joosje Duk as Johanna Bennemin

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Public Works 2015 films 2015 drama films Dutch drama films 2010s Dutch-language films